• The Outsiders

4/2/24 (Tues), Broadway

A musical still in previews based on a popular 1960s teen novel and 1983 movie of the same name. I seem to be one of the few who never read the book as a high schooler, so I came to this cold. I left the same way. The book felt insincere, the music was canned garbage, and the lyrics were just trite dialogue (“Your body’s wet, you’ll catch a cold”) with musical notes attached, not even attempting to capture the emotions or personality of the singer or the surrounding situation.

For the record, a high school student nicknamed Ponyboy is being raised by his eldest brother after the death of their parents. He belongs to a gang of poor kids known as the Greasers, a contrast with the affluent Socs (i.e., socially advantaged kids). After bullying by the latter, the plot devolves into a rumble between the gangs, which the lower-class kids ultimately and unsurprisingly win. This was not a particularly subtle story; I can see where it appeals to teenagers. There are several side plots, notably ones involving Ponyboy’s friend (broken family, etc) and a Soc girl who Ponyboy falls for, a Juliet to his Romeo.

The music is the usual tired computer-generated pop, but I was impressed by the triteness of the lyrics (“We are Greasers! We are Greasers! This is Tulsa, 1967”). In “Great Expectations” (“All these great expectations / Meet these grave revelations”), the songwriters refer directly to the Dickens novel but apparently haven’t read it (the novel’s title is intended to be ironic). And “grave revelations”? Are they that hard up for a rhyme? Also:

I look around at all of my friends

And still I feel alone.

I would follow them to battle,

But their story’s not my own.

The singer is telling us his feelings, and not very well, rather than showing us. The show’s plot with the rival gangs, star-crossed lovers, unintentional stabbing death of a key character and so forth reminded me of West Side Story, but imagine Tony singing those lyrics. Broadway music has sunk into a parody of itself. It’s neither good rock (if that’s what it’s supposed to be) nor good theater.

Musical books had at least become stronger in recent years even with lagging scores, such as Dear Evan Hanson and Wicked, but this musical fails to deliver on that score either. The characters are stereotypical and the story predictable. I’m probably not the intended audience since the book is aimed at high schoolers or younger, but I was irritated by the dumb nicknames (Ponyboy? Sodapop? really?) and black-hat-white-hat characterizations. One promisingly lyrical passage turned out to be a poem by Robert Frost, which just highlighted the emptiness of the rest.

The busy staging included some nicely realized fight scenes and an exciting Act 1 ending when two characters jump off either a bridge or a train (my friend and I disagreed – trivia: there was a similar leap into the darkness on this NY trip by the two principals in Sweeney Todd). The lighting and set were also effective. The choreography, however, was depressingly bad, with lots of MTV-type jerky movements based more on athleticism than dance. I assume this was adjusted to the level of the performers, which was pretty low (many were making their Broadway debuts). The acting wasn’t much better, though admittedly it’s hard to judge from this material. They did have a great looking cast, so at least it was easy on the eye. One buff actor found an excuse to remove his shirt at one point and oddly remained like that for the entire scene, which must have won points from some viewers. I guess that’s one way to sustain the audience’s interest.

The show, still in previews, is already sold out, and I have several friends who found good things to say about it. But other than the competent staging, I had trouble finding any redeeming qualities: clichéd book, vapid lyrics, stale music. The perfect portrait of the modern Broadway musical as an art form.